The International Songwriting Competition‘s list of finalists is out, boasting a very strong Aussie showing. Maybe the judges are onto us now after Kate Miller-Heidke’s win last year, taking home US$25 000 in cash and a tonne of other prizes. We’ll be taking a look at artists from the list between now and the announcement of winners in April – there are just too many to do justice to in one post.
Industry
The Hot Licks Festival
A friend of mine told me that he was playing in a little festival called The Hot Licks Festival in Mount Gambier, 4 hours in between Melbourne and Adelaide. The lineup is mostly local bands in Melbourne. When he told me that one of his friends Riley Ellard is running the festival, I contacted her to find out just why she has decided to undertake such a massive project on her own. The whole vibe of DIY initiative and going out to see new local bands is something that we promote strongly here at whothehell.net . So this is what she had to say:
The festival was initially conceived based on my own experiences growing up in Mount Gambier and really craving a stronger arts presence in the region. The community is extremely sports-focussed and in terms of accessing live music, performance, contemporary art, photography, e.t.c. you are very much at a disadvantage. Its a sentiment that’s definitely been echoed by the majority of young people from the region – there are very few activities for young people and a strong sense of sociocultural hardship. When I moved to Melbourne to study I realised just how completely divorced rural and regional areas tend to be from the creative arts, particularly the kind of flourishing underground music scene that exists in Melbourne.
The original idea was to start taking bands down to the region to do shows – something akin to a $5 gig at The Tote – and try and make live music more accessible. Although kids in the region will sometimes travel to the city for kind of grand-scale arena shows with international artists or the larger festivals like Big Day Out, they really have no way of experiencing those very intimate, grassroots gigs where you make a gold coin donation on the door and get that sense of being a part of something as you charter the growth of a band from when they first start playing.
The bands were chosen with that concept in mind and we very deliberately shied away from approaching more prominent or recognised artists. Somewhat unexpectedly all the bands said yes straight away, the city council jumped on board by awarding us a permit to hold the event in the Valley Lakes area and so Hot Licks was born.
Its definitely been a struggle to start the event with no real infrastructure in terms of existing sponsors or funding – we’ve had some really great feedback from potential sponsors who want to be involved in future events, but this first one has very much been built from scratch. Particularly in Melbourne we’ve received overwhelming support – graphic design and web design has all been done for free and the bands have really risen to the occasion by helping with poster runs.
The biggest issue has been that this is quite a novel event for the Mount Gambier community so we’ve had some barriers in terms of people getting on board – surprisingly its been older people in the community who have really supported the project, probably because there were similar events when they were younger and in the last couple of decades there’s been a real lull. We’ll be going down with the bands early Friday to do some surprise guerilla shows and spread our enthusiasm, so there should be a real sense of anticipation come Saturday morning.
Riley.
White Noise @ Brisbane’s “The Edge”
Located at the State Library in South Bank, The Edge is the shiny new home of creativity in Brisbane, with plenty of computers and communal space for creative types to do their thing.
Brisbane digital distributor Musicadium is running a series of workshops at the facility under the name White Noise, with goal of educating musicians on the best ways to promote and manage their music.
From the presser:
White Noise consists of a series of free workshops for up and coming artists to be held at the Edge, a brand new state-of-the-art creative facility in South Bank.
The two sets of three-day sessions, now looking for applicants, will include workshops and seminars on song-writing, recording, distribution, management, marketing and promotions.
Local and national music industry professionals will host each seminar or workshop, passing on invaluable insight and information to the young artists.
The sessions will culminate in a showcase held in the Edge auditorium, which will provide an opportunity for the public to see the progress made by the artists over the course of the program.
They’re looking for applicants now, so head to their website to apply.
The sessions run 15th-20th of March and applications close 28th February.
Tom & Alex
Tom & Alex are the new presenters for Triple J’s Breakfast show. I’m still in two minds about this, not that I wake up early enough to listen to breakfast radio, but they do have their funny moments:
EMI A&R Q&A (huh?)
The EMI blog In Sound From Way Out are apparently starting a Q&A series, whereinyou can put questions to the EMI A&R team that they in turn will answer. The first video is up and features Mark Holland describing the life of an A&R scout, Myspace, and his favourite Australian producers.
The Feral / Birds vs Humans
Birds vs Human, you’ve got my attention.
Two weeks ago I received a rather cryptic email:
Hey Jerry,
We have been trying to get in touch with you for sometime now. The
situation is thus: there is a struggle taking place between Birds and
Humans and your kinds needs you.
You have been chosen because of your unparalleled expertise in the
Aussie music scene. Your kind needs your delivery address so we can
send you 2 x vital (and entertaining) packs and give you the
opportunity to do your bit for the cause.
You’re under no obligation and you can always send us a message if
you’d like to opt out at any point.
The Feral
http://twitter.com/birdsvshumans
I replied saying I don’t take postal submissions anymore, assuming it’s someone wanting to send in a cd for review, and promptly forgot about it.
About an hour ago, a woman came to my office and delivered a metal box to my desk. She did not introduce herself before walking out. I opened the box and inside was a birds nest, some eggs (not sure if they’re real?), some polaroids, and a message in a scroll. Needless this was a WTF moment of the day for me. I checked the link that was in the scroll: www.birdsvshumans.com.au/nogigs, more cryptic message. According to this, I shall expect another package soon, and something will happen 12 October.
Even though the whole thing has given me some sort of Blair Witch vibes to it, I applaud them for their promotion initiative. Whoever they are has put a lot thought, effort and attention to detail into this, including the photos of bands whothehell.net blogged recently on the customised flash movie. It reminds me of similar Alternate Reality Game marketing done by 42 Entertainment for the The Dark Knight movie.
I’m looking forward to the next package, and if it is a band, I hope they’re good.
Five Picks from ‘One Movement’
Editor of the blog for Perth music conference One Movement, Andrew McMillen, asked me to do a guest post over on that site. It’s basically five picks from the many artists showcasing there and I figured I’d post it up here as well. Whothehell.net regulars won’t find too many surprises here since these are acts we’ve given love to in the past, some of them have even gotten quite big since then, but in case you’ve been living under a rock and are heading to the conference then these are five acts you should push your way to the front for.
Also, turns out I don’t know a lot of the bands on this line-up, which confirms that I’m quite out of touch with the Perth music scene; what with it being way over there and everything – but I’m told it’s booming, and we have a Perth contributor these days so hopefully it’s getting some love. Anyone going to the conference, please comment about rad Perth bands you catch that we’ve neglected thus far.
It never hurts to re-cap some classixx anyway.
1. Sarah Blasko – ‘Don’t U Eva’
How can you go past Sarah Blasko? She sells out tours in Australia now, hopefully her presence at One Movement gives her some international momentum – she deserves it. Smokey vocals, some tight production and a great song here. This was her debut single and that piano line still gets me every time.
2. Snob Scrilla – ‘Chasing Ghosts’
Combining elements rock, electro and hip hop can have mixed results, but for every latter-day Dizzee Rascal there’s a Snob Scrilla. This one’s from both his EP and album and I listened to it a whole lot when I was first introduced to his stuff. Had it been a vinyl I’d have likely worn down the grooves. Also check out album cut ‘King John,’ one of my favourites of 2009.
3. Philadelphia Grand Jury – ‘Going To The Casino (Tomorrow Night)’
These guys have been everywhere in 2009. This is a super energetic and catchy song and it only feels more vibrant live. Their first single and still probably the best summation of their strengths. They’ve toured a shitload and most people have probably already caught them treading the boards, but if not then they’re definitely one to get to the front for.
www.myspace.com/philadelphiagrandjury
4. I Heart Hiroshima – ‘Captain to Captain’
What these guys do with just two guitars (no pedals) and a drum kit still knocks me over. It’s all about the riffs – and the vocals; Matt Somers sound like he’s having an anxiety attack whenever he sings. A great live show replete with crowd banter to mix with the best. I’m eagerly anticipating their sophomore album.
www.myspace.com/ihearthiroshima
5. Canvas Kites – ‘Wayside’
Canvas Kites are the new project from Thom Moore of Mercy Arms (aka the Britney/K-Fed of Australian bands). I liked that band and I like what I’ve heard from this one too (which is pretty much just this song). I’ve not seen them live but it sounds like it would translate well. Let me know what you think if you see them.
—
One Movement For Music (OMFM) is a showcase festival and music conference that runs October 16-18 2009 at The Esplanade in Perth. Since July 2009, a festival blog named One Movement Word has been coordinated by Brisbane-based writer Andrew McMillen.
Highlights on the blog so far include a guest post from Hypebot‘s Kyle Bylin, interviews with international bands showcasing at OMFM like The Parlotones (South Africa) and Sorgente (Germany), as well as entertaining conversations with Australian music industry figures like Michael Chugg, ARIA Chairman Ed St John, and the Managing Director of Mushroom Music Publishing, Ian James.
McMillen and OMFM promoters Sunset Events plan to publish dozens more interviews on onemovementword.com in the weeks leading up to the event’s mid-October debut.
Latest Comments
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Still trying to purchase!!!ANTHONY J LANGFORD
Cool track. Congrats Joshua. Hope the release is a success.Tristan
Man I love these guys. I can't believe they are not releasing any new music. I've been to so many…sophie
^^ I love Grimes! Banoffee is one of my new favorite music artists! :) I love With Her, Reign Down,…Ace
Read your review then listened to the EP. Fantastic ! Different to most hardcore punk I listen to. Somewhat more…